The invention of improvement : information and material progress in seventeenth-century England /
Slack, Paul,
The invention of improvement : information and material progress in seventeenth-century England / Information and material progress in seventeenth-century England Paul Slack. - 1 online resource : illustrations (black and white)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
The idea of improvement - gradual and cumulative betterment - was something new in 17th century England. It became commonplace to assert that improvements in agriculture, industry, commerce, and social welfare would bring infinite prosperity and happiness. The word improvement was itself new, and since it had no equivalent in other languages, it gave the English a distinctive culture of improvement which they took with them to Ireland, Scotland, and America. Slack explains the political, intellectual, and economic circumstances which allowed notions of improvement to take root.
9780191757754 (ebook) 0191757756 (ebook) 9780191667534 (ebook) 0191667536 (ebook) (print) 0199645914 9780199645916
1600-1699
HISTORY--Europe--Great Britain.
Manners and customs.
Social conditions.
England--Social conditions--17th century.
England--Social life and customs--17th century.
Angleterre--Conditions sociales--17e siècle.
Angleterre--Mœurs et coutumes--17e siècle.
England.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
HC254.5 / .S58 2015eb
942.06
The invention of improvement : information and material progress in seventeenth-century England / Information and material progress in seventeenth-century England Paul Slack. - 1 online resource : illustrations (black and white)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
The idea of improvement - gradual and cumulative betterment - was something new in 17th century England. It became commonplace to assert that improvements in agriculture, industry, commerce, and social welfare would bring infinite prosperity and happiness. The word improvement was itself new, and since it had no equivalent in other languages, it gave the English a distinctive culture of improvement which they took with them to Ireland, Scotland, and America. Slack explains the political, intellectual, and economic circumstances which allowed notions of improvement to take root.
9780191757754 (ebook) 0191757756 (ebook) 9780191667534 (ebook) 0191667536 (ebook) (print) 0199645914 9780199645916
1600-1699
HISTORY--Europe--Great Britain.
Manners and customs.
Social conditions.
England--Social conditions--17th century.
England--Social life and customs--17th century.
Angleterre--Conditions sociales--17e siècle.
Angleterre--Mœurs et coutumes--17e siècle.
England.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
HC254.5 / .S58 2015eb
942.06